PCs to be ready for Vista despite delay

Hardware components will already be in place

By Dan Nystedt | 23 March 06

A delay in the latest upgrade to Microsoft's forthcoming Vista OS (operating system) won't affect PC hardware makers very much in terms of technology, because no matter when the software comes out, hardware components will already be in place, an executive at a DRAM company said today.

"We're already selling lots of 1GB [DRAM] modules for notebooks that are compatible with Vista," said Pai Pei-lin, vice-president of global marketing and sales at Nanya Technology, in an interview.

Computer hardware in general will be ready for Vista on time despite the delay, he said, so further changes in the schedule – such as an early release – would be possible.

On Tuesday Microsoft said Vista won't be available until next January for consumers, but that business partners in its volume licensing programme would be able to get it starting from November of this year. Computer hardware makers had been eagerly anticipating the new OS because normally such new releases increase sales, and they often need to make sure they choose components that will run according to requirements.

Taiwanese companies, which account for a large portion of the global output of computer hardware from factories in China and Taiwan, will ship Vista-compatible hardware on time, said Pai, despite Microsoft's revised schedule.